Eunice Lam

City University has plans to establish a new institute of digital medicine in collaboration with top medical schools in Singapore and Israel, including Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

It is also in talks to partner up with US and Australian universities.

President Freddy Boey Yin-chiang said: "I don't want CityU to be [University of Hong Kong] number two, or HKU number 3, I want CityU to be CityU number one."

The institute aims to facilitate global information exchange in digital medical technology and will not only focus on research but also bring in well-advanced technologies from around the world.

Boey said that the idea of establishing the institute stemmed from challenges countries faced during the Covid pandemic, particularly the strain on hospital facilities.

He cited an example from his startup in Singapore, with its ventilators being able to identify whether patients are suffering from coronavirus or tuberculosis.

Boey hopes that enhancing research would enable treatment and diagnosis to occur outside of hospitals and introduce innovative technologies from overseas.

Although CityU has not yet made plans to establish a medical school, associate vice president Kathy Chan Yin-ling said the university's solid research foundation included the school of data science and the department of biomedical engineering.

It has also hired 18 professors under its distinguished visiting professors scheme, and at least three of them will participate in the research conducted at the new institute.

It also intends to build a new campus in the Northern Metropolis to accommodate post-graduate students.

This move is in line with the government's policy of creating a university town in the metropolis, as announced in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu's policy address in October.

Boey said while the university may be planning a new campus, it will not abandon its Kowloon Tong one, which is highly regarded by students and staff for its proximity to the city center.

"Having a small space actually helps us focus on the really important things," he said, drawing attention to other universities with small campuses that have achieved world-class status.

Freddy Boey at the spring reception.

CityU planning push into digital meds